Carts for supporting various types of medical equipment, e.g., electrosurgical generators, lasers and laser peripherals, endoscopic instruments, coagulators, etc., are well known in the art (See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,681,378 to Hellmann, III, 5,016,948 to Welch et al., 5,041,110 to Fleenor, 5,292,029 to Pearson, 5,330,469 to Fleenor, 5,427,394 to Lauto, and 5,518,310 to Ellman et al.). However, the majority of these carts are one piece units which are typically designed for one or perhaps a specific combination of medical instruments. Still other carts are designed for specific medical purposes and include various features which are integrated into the cart's design, e.g., flow valves, foot switches, gas tubing, display panels, laser housings, etc.
Since many of these prior art carts have sophisticated electronic and mechanical components integrally designed into their respective housings and frames, it is often impractical to use these carts for supporting other or additional medical equipment. Moreover, the majority of these carts are not designed to support and secure different types of medical equipment. At most, an additional piece medical equipment could be placed atop the cart or perhaps atop another piece of medical equipment.
While generally acceptable for their intended purposes, the prior art carts are complicated and expensive. Accordingly, the need exists for a new, effective and inexpensive medical cart for supporting various types of medical equipment.